The Original O'l Farts Club.

[Dime]

I was born in Germany and have been back 3 times, the most fun trip was when I was 16 with my mother and we went to Italy as well, and then to Munich for the Octoberfest,this was many moons ago. I remember staying at my grandmothers who owned a pub and the customers brought their dogs in while their masters got loaded and they were all trained dogs or they weren't allowed in,they had a huge chessboard behind the pub that you walked on and then carried the pieces to the squares which I thought was amazing at the time. As a side note,my parents were under Hitlers rule when they were teens and today my sister emailed me telling me she found some old paperwork of my fathers with papers allowing travel to other areas in germany during the war to go to work as a kid. I'm going to go and check them out.

 

[Dime]

My father told me when the war was on there was almost no food available and good food went to the fighting men. He and his friends would get together as kids to steal potatoes from farmers fields, some would distract the farmers while the rest went in with pillow cases and tried to fill them.He said only rich people like the farmers had dogs and instead of dogs they used geese to protect their homes because dogs ate too much and you could eat the geese. We have it pretty good.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

I was born in Germany and have been back 3 times, the most fun trip was when I was 16 with my mother and we went to Italy as well, and then to Munich for the Octoberfest,this was many moons ago. I remember staying at my grandmothers who owned a pub and the customers brought their dogs in while their masters got loaded and they were all trained dogs or they weren't allowed in,they had a huge chessboard behind the pub that you walked on and then carried the pieces to the squares which I thought was amazing at the time. As a side note,my parents were under Hitlers rule when they were teens and today my sister emailed me telling me she found some old paperwork of my fathers with papers allowing travel to other areas in germany during the war to go to work as a kid. I'm going to go and check them out.

In the early 80's - an American/German friend of mine called Dieter flew over to visit me in the UK from the USA -

- I had just bought an old Vauxhall Victor car for £30 - from an old man - that had owned the car from new (1968) - it needed some attention to the suspension - so we bought a 2nd hand spring coil - and got it fixed - then we drove the car to the English port of Harwich - and got on a ferry to Hamburg Germany - to meet some of his relatives - then travelled on down the autobahns to Munich to meet others - before heading on to Saltzburg in Austria - Zagreb in Yugoslavia - then Thesaloniki - to Athens in Greece - where we put the car and us on the ferry from the port of Pareus - to Iraklion - on the Greek island of Crete - oh what a great road trip that was - and the German part particularly fun in and around Bavaria - drinking lots of huge steins of good German beer in German pub gardens - and dancing with beautiful German gals -

Oh sweet memories -

 

[Dime]

When I went there everybody made a big deal out my Levis jeans and the fact that I had 4 pair was unheard of ,apparently they were really expensive there so I gave them to my cousin Alvin when I left. I stayed for my summer school holidays. I can also recall they had a few pools in one spot and one of the pools made big waves. When I came back to Canada I spoke German to people for the first few days back out of habit and they would give me a weird look . today it's really rusty.

 

[cola]

Gw, pute, and subbie my new insurance takes effect March 1 2025 so I will have surgery after that. It will pick up on the pre-existing so it will take care of the knee. Plan is a clean out and a new hinged temporary knee to make sure I heal before the replacement knee. Saying I should be able to walk with minor effort, anything better then what I have now will be a plus.

Knees are tough, giggy. My second knee surgeon told me that knees are the most glaring physical weakness in our bodies. It sure seems like I know a lot of friends who were athletes or who were just recreational enthusiasts, who have had issues. One of my buds is an old age category discus thrower, and he recently had to get one too, I wish I could say that my second full replacement was perfect, but I think that there is just no way to replace the dynamics of a full working knee. It sounds like you might be somewhat immobilized now, so working in stages to eventually getting your new titanium knee sounds like a plan. I was in constant pain prior to the 2nd, so at least that's gone by the wayside.GL

 

[cola]

My father told me when the war was on there was almost no food available and good food went to the fighting men. He and his friends would get together as kids to steal potatoes from farmers fields, some would distract the farmers while the rest went in with pillow cases and tried to fill them.He said only rich people like the farmers had dogs and instead of dogs they used geese to protect their homes because dogs ate too much and you could eat the geese. We have it pretty good.

Meine Vater recounted much the same experience. Grew up in the most industrialized city in Deutschland, which received the most significant attention for destruction. He was routinely sent out to pilfer chicken eggs, which the family depended upon to avoid starvation. He told me that he truly disliked this, but his dad and uncle sent him out regardless because he was a kid and if caught would get a wrist slap as opposed to a full on adult. Apparently he never did get caught. He was very fortunate to see the warning signs somehow and told me that when he started to see the precursor of the formal Brownshirt's begin doing patrolling it was time to bail. He landed on Ellis island, like many, with only a suitcase, and likely some coins of some sort to ensure that he would not starve. And, you are right. Generations younger than boomers do not have these first hand stories from their parents to grasp just how very lucky we really are.

 

[Unca Walt]

just happen to be at a friends when that happened drank the stuff few times it was horrible i have well water. the city gets their water from lake 20 miles away that lake clean but they treat the water heavy. the lake next to the city is the most polluted in the states industrial run off and sewage did it in for 100yrs they started cleaning it in the early 90s and capped most of the bottom. monster fish in there no one eats it catch and release
View attachment 19145182

I have had a trouble-free reverse osmosis water for my well for 20 years. My water is far better than bottled.

 

[Unca Walt]

Boo’s last couple posts says it all. It takes very little effort to get along here. Unfortunately there is always someone trying to stir the pot of contentment.

I do not understand why some folks cannot see the garden, and must "righteously" stomp through it and on it, simply not recognizing the beauty of it.

If the (semi-private) garden set aside for a small group offends an observer with its bright flowers of communication, perhaps the observer could look over his shoulder at the whole world of gardens of every humanly conceivable type, and visit them.

There are literally thousands of sites to be monitored.

 

[Unca Walt]

Meine Vater recounted much the same experience. Grew up in the most industrialized city in Deutschland, which received the most significant attention for destruction. He was routinely sent out to pilfer chicken eggs, which the family depended upon to avoid starvation. He told me that he truly disliked this, but his dad and uncle sent him out regardless because he was a kid and if caught would get a wrist slap as opposed to a full on adult. Apparently he never did get caught. He was very fortunate to see the warning signs somehow and told me that when he started to see the precursor of the formal Brownshirt's begin doing patrolling it was time to bail. He landed on Ellis island, like many, with only a suitcase, and likely some coins of some sort to ensure that he would not starve. And, you are right. Generations younger than boomers do not have these first hand stories from their parents to grasp just how very lucky we really are.

Gawd, @cola, that is a fargin book!

I am dead serious. I can see you have a good grip on the Englitch language, and I gotta recommend you tell your father's story. <-- "Live it" and write it as each thing happens.

There is nothing like it out there; a kid in Germany winds up on Ellis Island. How the heck he did that is a story in itself.

I did what I could to keep the Family military history intact, but I could never reach the military stature of my WWII forebears. But I could -- and did -- write about them so they would never be forgotten.

You've gotta do the same.

 

[Unca Walt]

I hope you guys realize that I am not the one that bred the truffle treats, but I did go through and off a lot of plants to select the ones that I felt had the most vigor which are the ones that you guys have grown out… a friend of mine sent me a picture of a car he just purchased. I’m not a person who has a lot of envy, but this gets my stuff hard…Al told me when I’m feeling a little bit more spunky. I can come over and get the keys and take it for a ride. This guy is beyond successful and he deserves everything he’s got because he started a business from the ground up. He has an Audi RS eight that will peel your eyelids off your skull… I won’t begin the list some of the exotic cars they has but the Corvette is the one that does it for me… if you notice his car is the first one made for that model year… View attachment 19145297

Ho. Lee. Shit. Was it made by Elon? Atomic powered?

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

When I went there everybody made a big deal out my Levis jeans and the fact that I had 4 pair was unheard of ,apparently they were really expensive there so I gave them to my cousin Alvin when I left. I stayed for my summer school holidays. I can also recall they had a few pools in one spot and one of the pools made big waves. When I came back to Canada I spoke German to people for the first few days back out of habit and they would give me a weird look . today it's really rusty.

My first pair of Levi's were bought in 1972 - when I was 12 years old - (501's?) - and they were expensive to me at £4 a pair - then me and my brother got into Levi Stay Pressed Trousers - Frank Wright fringe and tastle loafers and/or Wicker fronts and Brutus or Ben Sherman shirts with button down collars - usually I'd wear the Levi jeans with Ox blood coloured 8 hole Doctor Martin boots - and the loafers/wicker fronts with the Stay Pressed Levi's - kinda a cross between Mod and Suedehead styles - back in the day - and even at that age we bought our own clothes - from the money we made being counterfeit Scouts or on paper rounds - that paid £1 per week

- I'm still wearing Doctor Martin shoes today - well over half a century later - but these shoes have Cordura ballistic nylon uppers - and this pair have already been walked for around 2000 miles = VERY HARDY SHOES -

 

[Unca Walt]

He should swallow it

That brings up a story:

At twelve years of age, I was really curious about chewing tobacco. Smoking was utterly verboten for young-uns in the Sneakydicker househole, but one day I watched my hero Unca Harry** on the porch with a plug and hesitantly asked if I could try it.

He looked at me with smile so evil, somebody should have thrown holy water on him. Then he cut off a small chunk from a square he had. It smelled good but almost too strongly sweet. Like molasses.

It was really sweet as I chewed. I began salivating. Like a bulldog.

Of course, I spit out over the porch, and chewed some more. Suddenly, the copious saliva was ice-cold coming in... Oh, dear!

Over the balustrade, I began calling dinosaurs at the top of my voice. The only thing louder than my barfing was my laughing Unca Harry who shouted:

"Hey, Walt! No matter how sick you are, if you suddenly feel something hairy, swallow quickly!"

**Little known fact: Sojers in WWII often chewed tobacco in the field where a cigarette would be dangerous.

 

[Unca Walt]

I bought 5 lbs of dried Apricots to try and get my blood potassium up and lo and alas it gives me voluminous quantities of gas.

I just ordered some probiotics to see if that will address the problem, and if not I'm open to idea on what to do with the largess....................................

Buy some balloons.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

Buy some balloons.

Balloons ? - Hah! - try Bananas

 

[cola]

I have had a trouble-free reverse osmosis water for my well for 20 years. My water is far better than bottled.

Here's a nice tune you might like certain to brighten any cloudy day. A 60's San Francisco based group, that experienced some of the issues that went along with the times. But survived. A wonderful tune about survival too.

 

[Unca Walt]

and they have dirty water

whatever happened to the Big Ditch Dig Project in Boston?

It kept leaking. The engineers were all law school grads, apparently. Early DEI (eg: political mob).

Somehow, no one was hanged. Or imprisoned. Or sued. Or even just made to leave town. People died. Four workers were killed working on the project.

The design itself was idiotic. They needed GLUE (I shit you not). And it busted in TWO (actually 3) separate ways:

1. "The end sections had not been designed to incorporate a hanging ceiling system like that used in the connecting section. The collapse of the ceiling structure began with the --

2. --simultaneous creep-type failure of several anchors embedded in epoxy in the tunnel's roof slab."

3. "A federal investigation blamed the use of the wrong kind of epoxy and the Massachusetts attorney general indicted the epoxy manufacturer."

Other than those mere formalities, it was a breeze. Cheap, too:

"...the total cost of the Big Dig, also known as the Central artery/Tunnel Project, is estimated at $24.3 billion, making it the most expensive highway project in U.S. history."

 

[FTL]

Over the balustrade, I began calling dinosaurs at the top of my voice.

Man I had a good chuckle at that line
good story old timer

 

[Gray Wolf]

What episode does talk about storing the firewood away from the house to reduce termite risk?

And Carpenter ants.

 

[Gray Wolf]

Back in the 60s, the 1/24 scale slot cars became quite popular at the family fun centers. shortly thereafter a group of individual such as myself began making our own cars, chassis and winding our own motors and the brought the hobby to complete other level. At 14 years old, I was sponsored by two New Jersey raceways to travel around the state and best of the best of the best where I went. I remember those days as fondly as any days I remember… I toured New England and even had an opportunity to bring my gear to California. I was really damn good at it if I do say so myself.

Kool! That reminds me of a church sponsored gravity car race a friend of mine decided to support his next door neighbors daughter at and I joined in. Everyone got a block of wood, two axles, and two wheels which they had to use and the cars had to fall within a narrow weight range.

Hee, hee, hee, our heroines car hit the bottom of the incline and bounced halfway back up before the next car hit the bottom. It just goes to show that a crack machinists and an engineer can beat a bunch of little kids every time.

 

[dogzter]

MSN

Bringing the soldiers home from Syria sounds like a plan to me.
Now we need to get all the rest out of harms way.
We should not be the worlds police we get nothing but blowback from doing so.